Kricket Cakes

My friend Laurie is so kind as to share her many successful cooking and baking experiences with me. When I don’t have the book with the recipe she used, she goes to the trouble of typing it up and emailing it to me. I am so grateful!

So, as you may have guessed, Laurie sent me this recipe after she made it over the holidays. It is based on a recipe published in the San Jose Mercury News in an article by Liz Scott. I love the balance of the sweet almond flavor with the slightly tart fresh cranberries in this recipe. It makes for quite a unique coffee cake!

For the Topping:

• unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup almonds

For the Cake:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups fresh (or frozen) cranberries

To Make the Topping:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter a 9 inch round cake pan.
3. Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and bake until they smell fragrant, 5-10 minutes.
4. Remove the almonds and allow them to cool.
5. Chop the almonds into small pieces.
6. Spread the chopped almonds onto the bottom of the greased cake pan.
7. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the almonds.

To Make the Cake:

1. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl until well combined, set aside.
2. Beat the butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the egg, then the sour cream, then the extracts, mixing well after each addition.
4. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until it is all combined.
5. Fold the cranberries into the batter with a spatula.
6. Spread the batter evenly over the topping in the pan.
7. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
8. Remove from oven and cook cake for 15 minutes.
9. Invert cake onto a plate.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 7:26 pm and is filed under Cakes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.